Apparatus for handling webs



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Aug. 19, 1930. A. M. DANIELS APPARATUS FOR HANDLING WEISS Filed June 18, R325 I H WM 1 1 v I W ll m .l 7. I .w 7 M n|| Wm mm NW N J. 1 mm Aug. 19, 1930. A. M DANIELS 1,773y709 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING wsss Filed June 18, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOLL Ai mmmys.

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Patented Aug. 19, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR MILLARD DANIELS, OF ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO I4. In. BROWN PAPER COMPANY, OF ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- SETTS Application filed June 18,

This invention relates to the art of making webs or strips from plastic or fibrous materials such as are used in the making of paper, linoleum, and other similar products. More particularly, the invention relates to the handling of such webs or strips in their unfinished state, as for instance, before the plastic or fibrous material forming the webs attains its final state of dryness or hardness, and during that period, when, due to the 'moist or plastic condition of the unfinished web, it is particularly susceptible to stretching and distortion if subjected to strain.

It is an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for handling such webs, as in transferring them from one finishing operation to another, in such manner that they shall not be subjected to strain such as to cause stretching or distortion with resulting injury to the finished product.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the art of making Webs or strips from plastic or fibrous materials such as described above, it is customary practice, after performing the usual preliminary operations necessary to form the webs, to wind them in their unfinished state in rolls after which they are unwound and fed to other machines for performing various other operations.

In their unfinished condition the webs are particularly subject to distortion and stretching if sub ected to strain and the webs are frequently injured in this manner, for it is also common practice 'to unwind the webs from the rolls for subsequent operations simply by pulllng the loose end of the web to cause rotation of the roll as the webs are unwound. As the rolls are quite heavy, the tension necessary to rotate them is suflicient in many cases to distort and stretch the webs even though the rolls are customarily mounted in ball bearings to reduce friction.

In order to eliminate this difliculty and to deliver the webs from the large rolls Without undue strain, it is proposed, according to the present invention, to drive the supply roll fro a suitable source of power at a periphera speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed at which the roll is rotated over or 1925. Serial No. 87,922.

about which the web is wound, and it is proposed to so control the'speed of rotation of the supply roll that its peripheral speed will.

always be substantially the same as the peripheral speed of the winding roll regardless of what this may be and regardless of the size of the roll being unwound.

As a specific example of the uses to which the invention may be put, the paper making art may be considered. In making paper, after forming and drying the web it is customary to pass thesame through a sizing bath after which it is passed through press rolls which squeeze some of the excess size therefrom, after which the paper is wound in large rolls. The paper as it comes from the machine in which these operations are performed and as wound in the rolls is in more or less moist or damp state due to the size still remaimng.

In order to deliver the paper from the rolls to machines for performing subsequent operations, such as drying machines, according to this invention 1t is proposed to drive the supply roll at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed of the preliminary rolls of the drier, thereby eliminating the tension on the web necessary to r0- tate the supply rolls.

As a further example taken also from the paper making art, it is sometimes desirable to unwind the web from one roll and to Wind it in a reverse direction on another roll to thereby reverse the direction of wind of the paper. In this situation the supply roll may also be driven and the speed of rotation controlled in such manner that the peripheral speed of the roll will always be approximately equal to the peripheral speed of the winding roll, so that again the objectionable tension on the web is eliminated.

It is to be, understood that while it is proposed to drive the supply roll it is not intended to entirely eliminate tension on the paper as it is frequently desirable that a moderate degree of tension be applied in order that the paper may be properly wound on the winding roll or properly received in the machine to which it is fed. It is therefore proposed to apply a moderate tension to the web in a manner described more in detail hereinafter.

The method may be more easily understood in connection with a description of the apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings in which the means for drivin the supply rOll and controlling the speed of the same are illustrated as feeding a web of paper to the preliminary rolls of a drier.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a top plan View.

Figure 3 is a section showing part of the controlling apparatus in detail.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the same.

F igure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, and

Figure 6 is a diagram of the electrical controlling circuits.

Referring particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the roll of paper 1 which is to be subjected to the drying operation is mounted on unwinding stands 2 and the web of paper A is led from this roll over the idler roll 3, thence under the dance roll 4 and thence over the driven roll 5, thence under the drier roll 6 and over the drier roll 7, and thence to the remaining rolls of the drier (not shown). Rolls 3 and 5 may be mounted in suitable journals at the top of the dance roll stand 8 and roll 5 may be driven by a pulley 9 and belt 10 which also passes over a pulley 11 mounted on the shaft carrying roll 7. The pulleys 9 and 11 should be of the same diameter and the rolls 5, 6 and 7 should all be of the same diameter in order that all may rotate at the same peripheral speed. Roll 6 may be driven by suitable intermeshing gears 12 and 13 mounted on the shafts carrying the rolls 7 and 6 respectively.

The end of the dance roll shaft projects through a slot 14 of the dance roll frame and is surrounded by a yoke 15 forming part of a control mechanism hereinafter described in detail.

As will be apparent, the weight of the roll 4 exerts a constant relatively slight tension on the web between the roll 1 and the roll 5 tending to maintain it in a taut condition. As will also be apparent if the peripheral speed of the roll 1 tends to exceed the peripheral speed of the rolls 6 and 7, the dance roll 4 tends to descend as additional slack in the web is formed due to the fact that paper is being unwound from the roll 1 faster than it is being wound over the rolls 6 and 7. On the other hand, if the peripheral speed of the roll 1 is less than that of the rolls 6 and 7, the dance roll 4 tends to rise as the slack is taken up.

The roll 1 is driven by means of a pulley mounted on the shaft carrying the roll 1 and belt 21 through a transmission mechanism designated generally by 22, said mechanism being driven in turn by belt 23 and pulley 24 mounted on the shaft carrying the roll 7. An additional pulley 25 is mounted on the same shaft and a belt 26 leads to a motor or other suitable source of power (not shown) for driving the entire mechanism. As will be apparent, belt 23 may lead to an independent motor or other source of power for driving the roll 1, the connection to the pulley 24 being merely a convenient means in the present instance.

The belt 23 passes over pulley 27 of the transmission mechanism 22, said pulley being fixed to the shaft 28 on which are also mounted the intermeshing flanges 29 and 30. The flange 29 is fixed to the shaft 28 but the flange 30 is capable of longitudinal sliding movement with respect thereto. The two flanges form a pulley of variable efl'ectiye radius such that as the flanges are moved toward one another the radius increases and as the flanges are separated the radius becomes smaller. A similar pulley comprising the flanges 31 and 32 is mounted on the shaft 33, the flange 32 being fixed to the shaft and the flange 31 being mounted similarly to the flange 30.

The transmission mechanism also includes a threaded shaft 35 on which are mounted the arms 36 and 37, the ends of which are connected to the movable flanges 30 and 31 respectively. If the shaft 35 is rotated the arms 36 and 37 and the flanges 30 and 31 are moved in the same direction transversely of the transmission mechanism so that as the radius of the pulley formed by the flanges 29 and 30 is increased for instance, the radius of the pulley formed by the flanges 31 and 32 is decreased and vice versa. The belt 38 passes over the two pulleys, the shaft 33 being driven thereby. Pulley 39 is mounted on the end of shaft 33 and over this pulley passes the belt 21 previously referred to.

In order to rotate the shaft 35, a worm gear 40 is fixed thereto and is driven by a worm 41. On the one end of the worm shaft is mounted a pulley 42 and a belt 43 passes over this pulley and pulley 44 mounted on acountershaft 45 which is driven by means of pulleys 46 and 47 and the belt 48 from the electric motor 49.

The electric motor 49 is a reversible motor and when rotated in one direction causes rotation of the shaft 35 such as to cause the roll 1 to be driven more slowly, and when rotated in the opposite direction causes rotation of the shaft 35 such as to cause the roll 1 to be driven more rapidly.

The rising and falling of the dance roll 4 previously described is utilized to control operation of the electric motor 49 in such manner that the roll 1 is driven at the proper speed. Referring more particularly to Figures 3, 4, and 5 as the shaft 51 of the dance roll rises, the bushing 52 comes in contact with the plate 53 which is thereby causes to bridge the contacts 54 and 55 mounted onthe plate 56 of suitable insulation material. If the shaft 51 is caused to descend the plate 57 is depressed against the tension of the spring 58 to bridge the contacts 59 and 60 mounted in the insulation plate 61.

Referring to Figure 6 it will be seenthat when the contacts 54 and are bridged the circuit 62 through the battery 63 is completed to energize the electro-magnet 64, and likewise When the contacts 59 and are bridged the circuit 65 is completed to energize the electro-magnet 66. The bar 67 pivoted to an arm 68 of the reversing switch 69 extends throughthe electromagnets 64 and 66, so that when the electro-magnet 64 is energized by bridging the terminals 54 and 55, the switch is moved to contact with terminals 70 and 71 which completes a circuit for driving the motor- 59 in a direction to increase the speed of rotation of the roll 1. When the clectro-magn'et 66 is energized by bridging the terminals 59 and 60, the reversing switch is moved in an opposite direction to contact with the terminals 70 and 72, thereby causing the motor 49 to reverse to cause the roll 1 to be driven more slowly. The motor 49 may be driven from any suitable source of electric current as indicated herein by the leads 7 3. As soon as the relative sizes of the pulleys of the transmission mechanism have been changed sufiiciently to cause the roll 1 to rotate at the proper speed the dance rollbreaks the circuit previously made and the leaf spring 74 returns the switch to its normal intermediate position, thus breaking the circuit operating the motor 49.

Since in some cases there may be a lag in the operation of the transmission apparatus 22 such as to cause the dance roll 4 to continue to rise or descend after bridging the terminals 54 and 55 or 59 and 60, the yoke 15 may be n'iounted to permit such movements of the dance roll while the contacts are maintained. For this purpose in the present embodiment the yoke is attached to a cord 76 which passes over pulleys 77 and 78 mounted on the dance roll frame 8 and a counter weight 79 may be provided to balance the weight of the yoke 15. A spring 80 may also be provided toemaintain the cord 76 under a moderate degree of tension.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the paper from the roll 1 will be delivered to the drying rolls 6 and 7 without undue strain, the only tension on the paper being that imparted by the weight of the dance roll 4 itself. The weight of the dance roll. of course, may be such as to provide any suitable tension on the web. If desired, it may even be counterweighted to further reduce the tension on the web. It will also be apparent that as the size of the roll 1 decreases as the paper is unwound therefrom, the rate of rotation will be gradually increased in order that the peripheral speed shall be substantially equal at all times to that of the rolls I 6 and 7.

It is to be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a roll of material to be unwound, a shaft for supporting said roll, a driven roll over which the material is to be wound, means for driving said shaft which supports said roll of material, a variable speed transmission between said driving means and said driven shaft, and means to control said transmission means to cause said roll to be driven at substantially the same peripheral speed at which said driven roll is driven, said last named means including a dance roll supported solely by the web between said rolls.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a roll of material to be unwound, a driven roll over which the material is' to be wound, a dance roll interposed therebetween resting on and supported only by the paper, means to drive said roll of paper, separate electrical circuits adapted to be made and broken by movement of said dance roll in one direction or another, an electric motor controlled by said circuits, and variable speed transmission means interposed in said drive means. and operated by said electric motor adapted to cause said roll of material to be driven at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed of said driven roll.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a roll of material to be unwound, a shaft for supporting said roll, a driven roll over which the material is to be wound, means for connecting said shaft which supports said roll of material to a source of power for driving the same, a variable speed transmission forming part of said connecting means, and means controlled by slack variations in the web between said rolls for varying the transmission ratio between said source of power and said shaft.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 13 day of June, 1925.

A. MILLARD DANIELS. 

